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AUSTRAL ARCHAEOLOGY PTY. LTD. 92 PERCIVAL ROAD STANMORE NEW SOUTH WALES 2048 TELEPHONE 02 9568 6701 FAX 02 9568 6702 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd ABN 25008 174 829 Incorporated in South Australia A A A R R R C C C H H H A A A E E E O O O L L L O O O G G G I I I C C C A A A L L L M M M O O O N N N I I I T T T O O O R R R I I I N N N G G G P P P R R R O O O G G G R R R A A A M M M M M M E E E A A A T T T T T T O O O W W W N N N S S S P P P L L L A A A C C C E E E
















Prepared by Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd Archaeological & Cultural Heritage Consultants For Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd


December 2005 Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project ii Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 C ONTENTS This report includes digital data on an accompanying 3 CD set.
Contents .................................................................................................................................. ii
1.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 The Towns Place Development....................................................................................... 3
1.4 Statutory Controls – Historic Heritage ............................................................................. 3
1.5 Statutory Controls – Indigenous Heritage........................................................................ 4
1.6 Artefact Repository.......................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Staffing............................................................................................................................ 4
1.8 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... 4
2.0 Contextual Background ................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 The Precinct .................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Towns Place Area ......................................................................................................... 10
2.4 Persons Associated With Towns Place Area................................................................. 14
2.5 Chronology.................................................................................................................... 16
2.6 Historic Plans and Photographs .................................................................................... 17
3.0 Archaeological Monitoring Works – Towns Place ....................................................... 20 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 20
3.2 Site grid determined ...................................................................................................... 20
3.3 Excavation Method........................................................................................................ 21
3.4 Stratigraphic Sequence ................................................................................................. 23
4.0 Artefacts .......................................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 39
4.2 Ceramics....................................................................................................................... 40
4.3 Glass............................................................................................................................. 49
4.4 Clay Pipes ..................................................................................................................... 56
4.5 Organic/lithic ................................................................................................................. 60
4.6 Metal ............................................................................................................................. 62
4.7 Discussion..................................................................................................................... 65
5.0 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 67 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 67
5.2 Towns Place Archaeology............................................................................................. 67
6.0 Assessment of Cultural & Archaeological Significance .............................................. 69 6.1 Introduction to the Assessment Process ....................................................................... 69
6.2 Basis for Assessment.................................................................................................... 69
6.3 Evaluation of Heritage Significance............................................................................... 70
6.4 Basis For Assessment................................................................................................... 70
6.5 Evaluation of Towns Place Archaeological Deposits & Structural Fabric....................... 70
6.6 Grading of Heritage Significance................................................................................... 71
6.7 Statement of Significance.............................................................................................. 72
7.0 References ...................................................................................................................... 73
8.0 Appendices ..................................................................................................................... 79 8.1 Stratigraphic Contexts ................................................................................................... 79
8.2 Stratigraphic Unit Conversions ...................................................................................... 89
8.3 Photographic Logs ...................................................................................................... 100
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 1 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 1.0 I NTRODUCTION 1.1 Background
Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd was commissioned by T.M.M.S Pty Ltd to carry out an
archaeological monitoring project in the area known as “Towns Place”, Walsh Bay (see
Figure 1.1).The purpose of the archaeological monitoring and investigation project was to
document and record the area’s archaeological resources prior to their removal as part of the
large scale redevelopment of the area.

A considerable amount of conservation planning has been undertaken in the Walsh Bay
Precinct. Tropman and Tropman Architects prepared a Conservation Management Plan
(CMP) in July 2001 to accompany the Development Application lodged by HPA Pty Ltd. The
archaeological work which is the subject of this report grew out of recommendations made in
that CMP. Prior to that a number of other heritage studies had been completed. These were: • Walsh Bay Precinct Heritage Technology Conservation Management Plan, November 1999, by Tropman and Tropman Architects. • Heritage Impact Statement for Walsh Bay Redevelopment Precinct Sub-surface Infrastructure, December 1999, Tropman and Tropman Architects. • Walsh Bay Precinct Conservation Management Plan, December 1998, by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd. • Walsh Bay Precinct Conservation Plan Archaeological Assessment, 1999, by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd. • Industrial heritage Review, September 1997 by Godden Mackay Heritage Consultants. • Walsh Bay Precinct Heritage Agreement, October 1997, by Clive Lucas, Stapleton and Partners Pty Ltd.
A Research Design was prepared by Tropman and Tropman Architects in June 2002 and a
Section 60 Application was forwarded to the Heritage Office by Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd on
3rd February 2003.

The first stage of work was undertaken in late February 2003 prior to the issuing of an
Excavation Permit. This was allowed by the Heritage Office on the understanding that works
would cease immediately until the Permit was issued if anything of significance was found.
Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd was commissioned to undertake the test excavation work at this
time. This work involved lifting the concrete slabs that were on the site and undertaking test
excavations in twelve proposed locations. The slabs were lifted toward the end of February
and the test trenching commenced. On 3rd March 2003 the Heritage Office wrote to Walsh
Bay Finance Pty Ltd requesting more information for the Application. A Supplementary
Research Design was prepared by Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd and submitted to the Heritage
Office by Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd on 7 th March 2003. An Excavation Permit was subsequently issued on 18 th March 2003 (02/S60/151). In light of the positive results of the test excavations, the methodology was altered to open up larger areas on 20th March 2003.
Excavation proceeded and revealed that substantial structural remains of the bond stores
were in situ.

The works proceeded until 16th April having been delayed on a number of occasions by
heavy rain and subsequent inundation of the excavation areas. An Open Day was held on
12 th April. In the light of findings made to that point, the Heritage Office then requested a reassessment of the site (17 th April 2003) and further information (30 th April 2003). This was provided by Tropman and Tropman Architects with input from Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd on
5 th May 2003. A revised Permit was subsequently issued on 7th August 2003 (2003/S60/030). Due to the level of the water table and ingress of water during tidal movements posing
Occupational Health and Safety hazards to personnel at the site, it was determined that
perimeter piling was required prior to further archaeological excavation continuing. Extensive
discussions were held between the Heritage Office, Walsh Bay Finance Pty Ltd, Tropman
and Tropman Architects and Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd on this issue.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 2 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 The piling of the perimeter of the site was monitored from 13th November 2003 on an
intermittent basis until 22nd January 2004. Full excavation recommenced on 28th January
and was completed on 24 th February 2004.
The study area is triangular in shape and covered approximately 0.5 hectares at the south eastern margin of the precinct and is bounded by Hickson Road to the south east, Towns
Place to the north east and Dalgety Road to the south west.

Figure 1.1 Location of Towns Place Archaeological Investigation Area
All works associated with the archaeological monitoring and investigation programme were
carried out in accordance with ‘best practice’ archaeological and heritage management
practices, and the standards and principles of the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter (1999),
and the NSW Heritage Manual.
1.2 Objectives
The principal objective of the project was to complete total machine excavation of the site
under archaeological supervision. Due to the site’s history of reclamation and demolition, it
was considered that broad scale monitoring would provide the highest level of understanding
with regards to the various phases of activity that had taken place on the site.

Through the monitoring of the bulk excavation works, it was hoped to answer a number of
broad research questions regarding how the site had physically evolved and whether specific
site components could be attributed to identifiable phases and/or aspects of the site’s
occupation and use. To achieve this a number of basic questions about the site’s
archaeological deposits were proposed:
• What is the nature, extent and integrity of the subsurface remains? • Do the subsurface remnants retain enough diagnostic information to be identified as belonging to a specific period (s) of site activity? • Is there evidence of the remains of buildings and infrastructure associated with domestic activity or is it all commercially focussed? • What type of commercial activities are represented within the archaeological record? Towns Place (Site 42 & 43) Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 3 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 1.3 The Towns Place Development
The development works at the Towns Place site centre on the construction of a large
residential complex, varying in height from 4 to 8 storeys above ground. In addition to the
above ground works, a number of basement car parking levels have also been constructed.
Completion of the development required that all of the Towns Place site had to be bulk
excavated well below the surface of the sandstone bedrock.

All proposed development is contained within the area identified in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2 – Towns Place – Location of the 24 discreet archaeological excavation areas numbered (Not
to scale – For illustrative purposes only). 1.4 Statutory Controls – Historic Heritage
The site was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register as part of the overall Walsh Bay
Precinct. As such, all historic remains and all potential sub-surface archaeological features
are subject to the relics provisions of the NSW Heritage Act 1977 (amended 1998) and were
therefore afforded concurrent statutory protection under the Act.
This schematic plan does not
show the 8 metre piling curtilage Excavation Area
Numbers are in Red 20 21 23 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 43 37 38 39 40 41 42 Substation Sandstone
building Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 4 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 This programme of archaeological monitoring and investigation was carried out under
Excavation Permit 2003/S60/030 obtained under the provisions of Section 60 of the NSW
Heritage Act 1977 (amended 1998). 1.5 Statutory Controls – Indigenous Heritage
The National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1974 (as amended) affords automatic statutory
protection to ‘relics’ where;

it is an offence to knowingly damage, deface or destroy Aboriginal sites or relics without the
prior consent of the Director general of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Act defines ‘relic’ as:
any deposit, object or material evidence (not being a handicraft for
sale) relating to indigenous and non-European habitation of the area
that comprises New South Wales, being habitation both prior to and
concurrent with the occupation of that area by persons of European
extraction, and includes Aboriginal remains.
It was not the focus of this investigation to assess the Indigenous archaeological resources of
the site, and no Indigenous sites, places and/or artefacts were located during the course of
the project. 1.6 Artefact Repository
The artefacts are to be either on permanent display at Towns Place, as per the interpretation
proposal, or they will be permanently stored at Pier 2/3 within containers supplied by
Waterways Authority.

The current point of contact on behalf of Waterways Authority is:
Mr Rees Mackay,
Department of Commerce
Ground Level
10 Hickson Road
PO Box 53
Millers Point
NSW 2000
Phone 02 9241 3933
Email rees.mackay@commerce.nsw.gov.au 1.7 Staffing
The archaeological monitoring project was carried out by the following Austral Archaeology
Pty Ltd staff: Justin McCarthy, Charles Parkinson, Samantha Moody, Caroline Wilby, Tim Hill,
Duncan Keenan, Till Bremer and Lucy McNicol. Lance Wackett, also of Austral Archaeology
prepared the artefact catalogue. 1.8 Acknowledgments
The input and participation of the following people are gratefully acknowledged:

Ms Jodi Ayre Mr Kevin Hickson Mr Scott Blogg Mr Simon King Dr Ken Cable Mr Tasman Storey Ms Isabel Cobas Mr Lester Tropman Mr Gary Cory Ms Natalie Vinton Mr John Culleton Mr Murray Walker Mr Frances Hayes Mr Graham Wilson Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 5 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 View of the site to the northwest (Dalgety Rd/Towns Place corner) in mid-February 2003 prior to excavation.
View of the site to the northeast (Towns Place/Hickson Rd corner) in mid-February 2003 prior to excavation. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 6 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 2.0 C ONTEXTUAL B ACKGROUND 2.1 Introduction
This account of the history of the site is reproduced (with permission) from Tropman &
Tropman Architects Pty Ltd report, Towns Place (Sites 43 & 44) at Walsh Bay Precinct,
Conservation Management Plan, 2001, pp5-15. It was written when the buildings at the site
were still in situ and well prior to the archaeological excavations being undertaken. This report
was a primary source of information for the subsequent Research Design prepared by
Tropman and Tropman Architects (2002) and the later Supplementary Research Design supplied by Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd (2003). The heading numbers have been altered to
be consistent in this report and the maps and photographs have been inserted from
elsewhere in the CMP and Research Design. 2.2 The Precinct
Source: This section has been based on the ‘Walsh Bay Precinct Conservation Management
Plan’, 1998, prepared for Walsh Bay Finance, as revised by Dr Kenneth Cable.

Walsh Bay is the term applied to the complex of wharves, storage depots and road works
constructed in the early twentieth century. Up to this stage, it was simply a part of the
northern end of Millers Point, facing the main stream of Sydney Harbour.

Sydney was founded as both a convict settlement and a Pacific port. The use of its harbour
facilities was crucial to its subsequent development. Since the large rocky peninsula between
Sydney Cove and Darling Harbour was, from the outset, an integral element in the early
settlement of Sydney, Millers Point became the site of early maritime activity.

While the Circular Quay (Sydney Cove) area was soon in full use and large structures were
built on the hill, the western and northern shores, which had long been utilised by the
Aboriginal people for fishing purposes, were little used by the new settlers. Only in the 1820s
did Cockle Bay (Darling Harbour) come into action for local shipping.

The shoreline from Dawes Point battery to the western extremity of Millers Point remained
difficult to access and, compared with the peninsula generally, had a small population.
Quarrying, extensive in the area, did help but the first wharf was only erected in the late
1820s. Gradually, wharfage was constructed, often by local landholders who built
storehouses as well. As whaling and Pacific Ocean trade developed, and the volume of wool
exports grew, enterprising merchants such as Captain Towns expanded the Point’s wharfage.

The Gold Rushes and the development of the wool trade promoted the Walsh Bay area. By
the late 1860s there were six wharves along the harbour shore. The area generally increased
in population while maintaining a balance between middle-class householders and working
class families.

Such a balance could not long remain. From the 1870s, the growth of the wool trade and the
general increase in the size of ships led to wharf reconstruction and the erection of larger
wool stores. The new Central Wharf contained state of the art features and other finger
wharves were improved. Larger stores were constructed and the road pattern was made
more regular.

Commercial activity generated employment for the population of Millers Point. In the 1870s
and 1880s there were still fine houses and terraces on the high ground, the churches and
schools flourished (especially Fort Street, the centre of the State system) and the district was
busy and active. But, already, population pressure and the demands of industry were limiting
available space. People who could afford to were beginning to move to the new suburbs and
there were ominous signs of overcrowding and health hazards in the district. The Depression
of the 1890s and a series of bitter, unsuccessful waterfront strikes made matters worse.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 7 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 The expansion of the Sydney Harbour frontage of Millers Point was both steady and, in
engineering terms, scientific. Norman Selfe’s experiments with projecting jetties were
innovative for their time. But they were only a portion of the general expansion of Darling
Harbour and its facilities.
By the final decade of the nineteenth century Sydney, as Australia’s major overseas maritime
outlet, was becoming increasingly subject to structural pressures. It needed to undertake
major changes.

In 1900, the bubonic plague appeared at Millers Point. The arrival of this ancient scourge
from India had been anticipated. Carried by the fleas of rats, it was transported by shipping
and so seaports were especially vulnerable.

The plague, amid great public excitement, prompted measures by the Government and the
City Council to destroy the adjacent wharfage. There were large-scale resumptions of land
and (despite Council protest) the creation of a Harbour Trust to carry out the work.

The plague gave urgency to a situation already ripe for change. The late nineteenth century
revolution in ship construction was everywhere being met by massive port rebuilding projects.
In this context, the whole of Sydney Harbours wharfage required reconstruction.

In Sydney, as elsewhere, there was a growing belief that the port city needed a general
overhaul. Not only wharves but warehouses and stores, roads, railways and commercial
facilities needed to be integrated and enlarged. The advent of electricity, concrete
construction and the petrol engine widened the engineering horizon; the new emphasis on
government action and finance gave the opportunity. Discussion in the 1890s gave way to
activity in the period after Federation, when the State Government could attend to and spend
money on domestic problems.

Three other matters became significant at the beginning of the century. It was generally
accepted that an overhead rail and road bridge would span the Harbour from Dawes Point.
There was, even apart from the plague, an emphasis on ‘slum clearance’ and city health. And
the State Government, in the interests of efficiency, had become accustomed to using
statutory corporations to control such public facilities as water supply and railways.

The result of the crisis was the wholesale resumption of Darling Harbour and Millers Point
land, the eradication (gradually) of plague spots, the erection of new housing (amid conflicts
with the Improvement Advisory Board) and the reconstruction of Sydney’s wharves by the
new Harbour Trust. The chairman of the Trust, R.R.P. Hickson, and the Engineer in Chief,
H.D. Walsh, were men of vision and initiative.

A view to the southwest of Town’s Bond Stores c.1900. (Tropman and Tropman Architects)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 8 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005
Present day plan of Towns Place, overlayed with 1820’s original foreshore outline
which runs through the south and south-western part of the site, 1880’s survey of
Walsh Bay and 1901 Hickson Road proposed map. (Tropman and Tropman Architects)

For the Trust, housing and plague prevention, though important, were incidental to the great
purpose of making Sydney a modern port. From 1901, the Trust, after a difficult beginning,
undertook work from Woolloomooloo to Glebe. Eventually, it rebuilt most of Sydney’s harbour
facilities. It did so in conjunction with housing, transport and other authorities.

The Walsh Bay wharves (the name came into use in 1919) were among the last to be
addressed. Several had been modernised late in the previous century and the remoteness of
the site presented difficulties. Dalgety’s wharf was refurbished first, new stores were built and,
in 1909, major cliff excavation began. From 1910 work commenced on the new finger
wharves and their shore sheds. Hickson Road, made very wide to allow for a possible rail link,
connected Walsh Bay to Darling Harbour and Pyrmont Bridge. Completed in 1921, with a
Pottinger Street realignment in the next year, the Walsh Bay complex, despite shortages in
materials, marked the end of major reconstruction. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 9 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005
Present day plan of Towns Place, overlayed with historical map of Maritime Services
Buildings c. 1950’s, and 1820’s original foreshore outline which runs through the south
and south-western part of the site. (Tropman and Tropman Architects)

Walsh Bay was thus only one part of a complicated and very ambitious harbourside project.
But it was the ‘jewel in the crown’, a highly integrated, minutely planned, comprehensive
series of structures, ‘state of the art’ for their time. Its only drawback was its relative
remoteness; on the other hand, it was one of the few wharfage sections with direct access to
the Harbour mainstream.

The Walsh Bay wharves, though owned and controlled by the Sydney Harbour Trust (from
1936 the Maritime Services Board), were let out to commercial shippers. As such, they did
not accommodate overseas liners; their dependence on commerce was complete. In the
1920s, a boom in exports and imports gave a degree of prosperity. This was reversed in the
1930s but wartime conditions stretched Walsh Bay to the utmost. Yet the use of some of the
storage space for Commonwealth Government purposes was a sign that the position of
Walsh Bay was not wholly secure.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 10 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Resumptions and, in the 1920s, Harbour Bridge construction, kept the Millers Point residential
population at a lower level than before. By the inter-war years, waterside workers and their
families formed the bulk of the inhabitants. While subject to vagaries of employment, they
were highly unionised and formed a coherent community. The Maritime Services Board
remained the principal landlord, paying rates to the City Council.

The post-1945 years saw change in the shipping trade and decline for Walsh Bay.
Technological innovations required new styles of wharf architecture with which Walsh Bay
was ill equipped to cope. The coastal shipping, already in decline, was further reduced. By
the 1960s, longshore wharfage was appearing at Darling Harbour and major changes were
taking place at the north-west corner of Millers Point. The housing stock of the district, still
under M.S.B. control, suffered deterioration while the population declined.

The decade of the 1970s proved to be the watershed between past and present. The crucial
point was the decision of the M.S.B. that Walsh Bay could not be redeveloped as longshore
wharves for container vessels. At the same time, ‘the Rocks’, earmarked for modern
development, under the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority (1968) had its future
changed, after much controversy and agitation, into a predominantly heritage area under
SCRA direction. Gentrification began to take place elsewhere in Millers Point. The creation of
the Darling Harbour Authority (1984) was an indication that a totally new role was being
developed for the southern portion of that inlet. The M.S.B., in 1985, began to make over its
housing stake at Millers Point to the Housing Commission. And, already, portions of the
Walsh Bay wharves, no longer serving their purpose, were being used for other things and
were the subject of earnest discussion about their future. 2.3 Towns Place Area
Source: This section has been prepared by historian, Dr Kenneth Cable.

The item here denominated as the Towns Place site is a built-up island area bounded by
Hickson Road, Dalgety Road and Towns Place. It is occupied by a group of early twentieth
century buildings. There is some evidence of a nineteenth century structure.

The item is the product of the Harbour Trust’s reconstruction of the area. The road pattern
produced an island site, which was then utilised for the construction of buildings designed to
serve the purposes of the Walsh Bay complex generally. The site was not specifically
associated with the nearby wharf area as it had no direct historical connection with what had
taken place there in the nineteenth century.

The outline is in two distinct sections, their only common feature being their association with
the maritime activities at Walsh Bay. The first, and longer section, deals with the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries; the second records developments since the beginning of the
Trust’s reconstruction. 2.3.1 The Setting of Towns Place
In 1919, the waterfront from Dawes to Millers Point was termed ‘Walsh Bay’. Hitherto, this
stretch had no official name. This was indicative of the fact that it was only with the Harbour
Trust’s massive rebuilding programme that the wharfage, from Pier 1 to Pier 10, gained a
sense of unity. Hitherto, it had been a somewhat disorderly assemblage of private wharves.

On the other hand, the promontory to the west, the area known as Millers Point, was
considered in the mid and later nineteenth centuries to possess a semblance of singularity.
The rocky headland contained the houses of the wealthy on its summit and slopes, working
class dwellings to the south and a line of wharves, jetties, shipyards and stores to the west,
north and east. The northeast and eastern waterside sectors, in particular, were significant.
In the twentieth century, they came to be thought of as forming the far end of the Walsh Bay
series of wharves. Previously, they were viewed as a part of Millers Point.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 11 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005
Analysis of historical information overlayed on present day plan of Towns Place as
presented with site predictions in the Research Design. (Tropman and Tropman
Architects) Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 12 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 The Walsh Bay of the Harbour Trust consists of a number of large jetties with elaborate
shore-sheds, which form part of the wharf complex. Hickson Road, on the other hand,
separates them from the mixed array of bond and other stores to the rear. In the nineteenth
century, this kind of separation did not occur. The private entrepreneurs who were active in
the area were all-purpose merchants. They built and ran the wharves, owned many of the
ships and stored and traded in the goods. They operated their establishments as units and
usually lived nearby. ‘Towns’ Wharf’, ‘Moore’s Wharf’ and ‘Parbury’s Wharf’ and others were
mercantile properties, developed to serve the interests of their owners. 2.3.2 Early History
The harbour promontory known as Millers Point (from the enterprise of Jack Leighton the
miller) was settled at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It sustained a number of
activities, which served the area. These included some maritime work. Whaling and sealing
products, being ‘noxious trades’, were especially evident. Several ship repair yards were set
up on areas where there was a shelving shore.

By the 1840’s, the stretch of shore between Dawes and Millers Points was being used for
wharfage and storage, although only to a limited extent. The high land at the rear and
difficulty of transport access hindered development. The same restriction applied to Millers
Point itself. But the Point had important connections with Darling Harbour; in a sense, it
looked both ways. It was thus more likely to go ahead.

The pattern of settlement at Millers Point itself was similar to that which prevailed generally.
The shoreline came to be used for wharfage and storage. This was aided by the gradual
infilling of the harbour frontage. Behind the shore developments, a track or road appeared,
assisted by the cutting away of the high ground beyond by quarrying. On the hilly Point,
residences for merchants and wharf proprietors were built, overlooking the activities below
and of the harbour generally. On the south side of the knoll, where the land was flatter,
workers’ houses appeared, eventually creating small streets and lanes. The access road
came around to the south to join up with Walsh Bay, Kent Street and the eastern shore of
Darling Harbour. Gradually, and without systematic planning, this pattern evolved for the rest
of the century. The Millers Point village, from the 1840’s, began to form a unit: it was not
simply a workplace, or a dormitory area. Socially and economically, it was complete in itself.

The dominant feature of Millers Point was the house of the merchant-entrepreneur. From the
1830s, a number of these residences appeared. Spencer Lodger (1835) was occupied at first
by the Lamb family, who were still important in the area at the end of the century. Moorecliff
(1839) was initially built for Henry Moore, of Moore’s Wharf on the east side of the Point.
Above the cutting, and serving as an approach to Moorecliff was Victoria Terrace, a row of
splendid houses. It was characteristic at the Point that its southern slopes were being
covered by small stone cottages for the employees of the mercantile gentry. 2.3.3 Towns’ Wharf
Towns’ commercial empire was centred on his Millers Point wharfage establishment. While,
the bulk of the goods that he produced as a shipper did not relate to the vastness of his
undertakings, it remained Towns’ headquarters.

The wharf area that Towns bought from Jones was not thereafter greatly extended. Moore’s
wharf to the north, a larger property, remained operative. To the west was the cliff line of
Millers Point. Southwards were the properties of other wharf owners and the egress road.
Consequently, Towns’ main opportunity to expand was by way of infill. He did so consistently,
constructing a timber sea wall as the work progressed. This practice was followed by most
wharf proprietors along the Walsh Bay foreshore. The difference in Towns’ case was that,
with his property at the angle of the west and south sides of Walsh Bay, he was constrained
in what he could attempt. Nevertheless, Towns’ use of the shoreline was often innovative.

The principal wharfage on Towns’ property was of the longshore kind. Town broke up the line
into segments. On the north, near Moore’s wharf, was a slipway. Halfway along, a small
projecting jetty divided the longshore berths. At the south end, infill had created a square
platform-style wharf, with mooring on three sides. The scale of the arrangement of the Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 13 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 wharfage was small. Towns’ mercantile interests at Walsh Bay were centred on the South
Seas; they did not require the larger ships needed for wool.

By contrast, Towns built up a range of shore establishments during his tenure of the wharf.
He clearly wished to keep his goods under his personal eye from his house on the heights.
Many of the products would have been transhipped and so had to be kept close to the dock.
The result was a large, stone store, one portion of two storeys, the other (parallel to and
adjoining it) of three. It was sited at the south-west corner of the site and was, in Towns’ time,
one of the largest buildings in the district. The other structures, on the north side adjacent to
Moore’s wharf and the entrance to the property, were less substantial. Most were of iron and
timber, plus one brick cottage-like building. They were subsidiary to the great store, which
alone had ‘bonded’ status.

By 1870 Towns had left his wharf, though not his world of business. By this time, his
Queensland activities were in difficulty and his fortunes were declining. The day of the
independent merchant was giving way to the limited company and the commercial
entrepreneur. In 1873, soon after her husband’s death, Sarah Towns sold the Walsh Bay
property to Charles Parbury. 2.3.4 The Post-Towns Period
The departure of Towns was a prelude to decisive change in the Walsh Bay wharf situation.
Entrepreneurs and merchants such as T.A. Dibbs’ and S.B. Watt were creating combines to
bring about large-scale developments. Deepwater wharves, extensive sheds and bond
stores and an improved road system were being promoted.

From the late 1870’s, the array of small wharves along Walsh Bay at Millers Point began to
give way to larger and more efficient structures, backed by technically sophisticated storage
facilities and managed by corporate organisations. They continued to deal with a variety of
merchandise but, increasingly, wool became the principal product.

The active technical force in the improvements of the last quarter of the nineteenth century
was Norman Selfe, a local engineer of great innovative ability in many fields. Aware of
overseas harbour engineering developments. Self experimented with the construction of jetty
piles, deep water wharfage and ship loading technology. The diversity of owners, competition
from Darling Harbour and the restricted site made overall development difficult.

The lessees of the Parbury (formerly Towns) property, Dalgety and Co. employed Selfe to
construct a new jetty, angled away from the shore and forming a breakwater as well as an
anchorage. The angled effect enabled Selfe to conform to the government’s restriction on the
length of deep-water jetties. The jetty adjoined the new Central (Cosmopolitan) wharf on the
site of the present Pier 8/9.

The shore establishments were enlarged, reflecting Dalgety’s major involvement in the wool
trades. The slipway was widened and the sheds along the Moore’s Road wall covered a
wider area. On the other hand, there was no attempt to build further solid or permanent
structures. 2.3.5 Harbour Trust Plan
The resumption of the entire area by the newly formed Harbour Trust in 1901 was an
immediate response to the plague problem: over the longer term, it became a strongly
coordinated and systemic attempt to revamp the entire Walsh Bay site.

Initially, there were suggestions for improvements to Towns Wharf. The Trust had continued
the existing lessees in their occupation and Dalgety’s made full use of them. The pressing
improvement was the rebuilding of the sea wall. This came to be submersed under a broader
policy of reconstruction.

The Harbour Trust’s master plan was based on two principles: the total rebuilding of the
wharves and shoresheds; the provision of goods access by means of a new road system.
For both of these, the existing Towns’ property was redundant. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 14 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005
The Trust intended to construct Pier 8/9 near the Central Wharf site. This involved the
elimination of the Towns southern wharf. The construction of the longshore Pier 10, chiefly
on Moore’s Wharf, meant that the northern segment of the Towns property would go.

The Trust planned a wide access road – Hickson Road – sweeping up from the south. It
would mean an enlarged Dalgety Road and a new road (Towns Place) which followed the
shoreline. This tripartite road arrangement, a key element in the entire concept, left nothing
remaining of the Towns shore property save for a triangular piece of land between the three
roads.

An island site was thus created, separate from the planned Pier and its shoresheds but in a
strategic situation in respect of the Walsh Bay complex generally.

The seawall was strengthened in 1901. A new sea wall was built in 1908-10, with fill from the
bulk excavation along the new Hickson Road. 2.3.6 Twentieth Century Development
The site was developed in a piecemeal fashion in order to service the Trust’s (later the
Maritime Service Board’s) various activities in the Precinct.

Sections of Town’s large stone store remained on the site and were not demolished in
subsequent building operations. The structures which appeared at various times in the
twentieth century were of practical utility but lacked significant heritage value.

An ablutions block was built in 1918 near the later weighbridge. A weighbridge office also
existed.

The present structures appeared in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s and have been put to
various purposes. The Maritime Services Board garage came to occupy the portion at the
intersection of Hickson and Dalgety Roads, with the electrical workshop to the north. Of brick
construction, the building had an older stone base. From World War II, a labour exchange
and pick-up facility was operated on a portion of the site. A spray paint room and a
decontamination unit were also in use.

From the 1970’s, the decline in the intended use of Walsh Bay led to a corresponding falling-
away in the use of its component parts. The facilities on the island site became redundant. 2.4 Persons Associated With Towns Place Area
Source: This section has been based on the ‘Walsh Bay Precinct Conservation Management
Plan’, 1998, prepared for Walsh Bay Finance, as revised by Dr Kenneth Cable.

HENRY DEANE WALSH (1853 - 1921)

Henry Deane Walsh was born and educated in Ireland. Walsh’s early engineering experience
was with the railways working for Ireland’s Southern and Great Western Railway. Walsh
arrived in NSW in 1877 and joined the Public Works Department in the following year. On the
formation of the Sydney Harbour Trust in 1901 Walsh transferred to the new organisation as
its Engineer-In-Chief. Walsh Island (Newcastle) and Walsh Bay (Port Jackson) are named
after him. While it is generally given that the area between Millers Point and Dawes Point was
named after Walsh after his death in 1922, the Sydney Harbour Trust’s first reference to
Walsh Bay is in the Annual Report for the year ending June 1919. Walsh had been ill at that
time.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 15 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 ROBERT TOWNS (1794-1873)

The longest serving and most prominent inhabitant of the Point – he lived in several of its
finest houses – was Captain Robert Towns. His career characterised the fortunes of Millers
Point, while his principal holdings were to be in the vicinity of the present Towns Place.

Robert Towns, born in Scotland, began his career as a trader- captain. It was only after some
profitable voyages from Britain and in the South Pacific that he ceased to regard Australia as
a port of call and came to see it as his headquarters. In this regard he was unusual; most
merchant traders began in Sydney and then extended their horizon.

Towns settled in Sydney in 1843. It was not an easy time. The wool boom of the late 1830s
had subsided, giving way to severe economic depression. Towns, with overseas resources,
had the advantage of being able to buy property and hire labour cheaply. In 1844 he
purchased Jones’ wharf at the angle of Millers Point east and the present Walsh Bay. His
South Sea interests gave him a diversified trade base; Towns was never dependent on the
fluctuations of the wool market.

From his Millers Point house, Towns exercised strict control, based on unremitting attention,
over a growing empire. He greatly extended his South Sea activities and traded with China
and India. He owned whaling ships and was involved in schemes for immigration (including
from Asia). He was involved in the Sydney banking system and the Chamber of Commerce
and, from 1856 to 1861 and again from 1863 until his death, was a member of the Legislative
Council. In 1855 he took Alexander Stuart (later Premier of the colony) as his partner in
Robert Towns and Co.

Towns’ ventures were not only involved with shipping, trading and commerce. From 1860 he
became a major landholder in Queensland, holding over a hundred runs. Land interests led
to a project to grow cotton and, in turn, to import South Seas natives as labourers. Towns
was never a slave-trader and supported government regulation of native immigration. His
cotton venture a failure, Towns, from the later 1860s, turned to wool in North Queensland;
Townsville, the local port, was named after him. Towns and his partners also developed
stations on the Gulf of Carpentaria, founding Burketown.

Towns moved from Millers Point to Cranbrook, Point Piper, in 1865. By this time has
prosperity was waning but he continued to supervise his many interests until his death in
1873.

Towns was energetic, reliable, immensely hard-working and always prepared to branch out
into new ventures. While his Queensland activities were remote from Sydney, he always
remained the individualist ship-owner and merchant at heart and by habit. With his death, his
Millers Point property passed under corporate control.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 16 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 2.5 Chronology Source: this section has been arranged by historian Dr Kenneth Cable. It is based on
the ‘Walsh Bay Precinct Conservation Plan’, December 1998, prepared for Walsh Bay
Finance. It also uses other sources and includes events which had some general
bearing on the Towns Place Area. 1788 European arrival 1791 Smallpox epidemic which decimated the Aboriginal population. 1797 First Government windmill established. 1810 St Philip’s Anglican Church at Church Hill was consecrated. 1825 James Munn established a ship building yard at Millers Point. 1830s First Crown Grants began to be issued. First educational facilities appeared
with the construction of a parochial school attached to St Brigid’s in Kent
Street. 1831 Hydraulic equipment installed in some facilities. 1835 The first finger jetty, Parbury’s wharf, was constructed. St Brigid’s Roman
Catholic Church in Kent Street was completed. 1839 Kent Street was progressively cut through. 1841 Opening of the Australian Gas Light Company. 1847 The cutting through Argyle Street was completed. 1848 Ferry Lane was mentioned in the sale notice of Hutchinson’s Estate. 1850 Fort Street Model School for Girls and Boys was opened. Wells plan
records four structures on the allotment. 1856 St Philip’s Anglican Church at Church Hill was rebuilt. 1860 By this time finger jetties had appeared along the shoreline. 1890 The Great Maritime Strike. 1895 Survey of the time showed that the whole of the allotment had been
redeveloped. 1900 The flea-borne outbreak of bubonic plague arrived in Sydney. Government
resumption of the wharves area from the head of Darling Harbour to
Circular Quay. The Sydney Harbour Trust Act was passed in October. 1910 Extension of the city tramway system into Millers Point. 1901-1910 Demolition of much of the older housing stock in the area. 1903 Longshore Wharves 1A and 1B at Darling Harbour opened. 1906-1908 Wharves 10/11 developed. 1909 Government’s scheme for the redevelopment of the wharves at Walsh Bay
begins with the construction of the low-level Hickson Road. 1910-1914 Wharf 1 and Wharves 8/9 developed. 1912 Wharf 2 at Darling Harbour opened. 1912-1922 Wharves 2/3 developed. 1913-1918 Wharves 6/7 developed. 1913-1922 Wharves 4/5 developed. 1913-1923 Construction of the deviation of Pottinger Street to connect Hickson Road
with Windmill Street by an easy gradient. 1914-1923 Pottinger Street realigned. 1922 Sydney Harbour Trusts work at Walsh Bay ceased. The area of land at the
corner of Windmill Street and Pottinger Street enclosed by the existing brick
wall. 1932 Completion of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 1936 The Sydney Harbour Trust replaced by the Maritime Services Board. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 17 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 1945 Construction of former canteen building. 1955 Reconstruction of former Canteen Building. Hickson Road facade. 1958 Tram service ceased with the introduction of buses into the area. 1970 Dalgety’s and Tyser’s facilities were demolished by the Maritime Services Board. At this time Walsh Bay, was neither extensively redeveloped in the post second world war economic boom nor for port redevelopment. The Industrial Archaeology Committee of the National Trust commenced
assessing and classifying individual wharves in Sydney Harbour.
Walsh Bay Wharf 8/9 was the first to be classified and included in the National Trust Register 1977 Wharf 1 ceased to service shipping. 1985 The National Trust Council listed the Walsh Bay wharves and Hickson
Street Buildings.
Mixed uses developed in the area with Pier 1 comprising mixed retail,
restaurants and amusements and Piers 4/5 housing the Sydney Theatre
Company and other cultural groups.
Parbury’s Bond No.1, was being adapted by the Maritime Services Board,
to house repair facilities.
The area was included in The Rocks Urban Conservation Area. 1989 The NSW Government prepared SREP 16 which was made in June 1989. Tenders were called for the redevelopment of Walsh Bay. This attempt
failed and new tendering was called. 1995 The NSW Government, on behalf of the Australian public, the owner of the
Walsh Bay redevelopment area offered the area to the public sector for
redevelopment.
An expression of interest was lodged in November, by Walsh Bay
Properties Pty Ltd (now Walsh Bay Partnership)(WBP). 1996 WBP was awarded a preferred proponent status in March and submitted a
Master Plan Development Application (MPDA) in May. 1997 After review of the May 1996 MPDA scheme a revised proposal was submitted in draft form in December. 1995 In January the N.S.W government invited Phillipe Robert to review the
options for development at Walsh Bay.
Mr Robert’s proposals were adopted by WBP and major shareholders and formed the basis of the October 1997 Master Plan development proposals. 1996 On 30 th April the Heritage Council of NSW, and on 20 th August the Director General of DUAP, gave approval to WBP’s Master Plan application for a
mix of conservation, restoration and new building for residential,
commercial, cultural and retail uses. 2.6 Historic Plans and Photographs
The CMP (Tropman and Tropman 2001) contains a number of general historic plans and
photographs of the site. The following have been reproduced and enlarged from Ashton and
Waterson 2000. They show the site at different periods and illustrate its growth and
development in the 19 th century. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 18 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005










Wells 1843 plan of the City Sydney. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 19 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 c1870 photo taken from Blues Point.
Gibbs, Shallard and Co 1879 birds eye view. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 20 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 3.0 A RCHAEOLOGICAL M ONITORING W ORKS – T OWNS P LACE 3.1 Introduction
As stated in the introduction of this report, the objectives of the archaeological programme
were to determine the extent and integrity of archaeological deposits associated with the
historic Towns Place precinct. 3.2 Site grid determined
At the commencement of formal excavations, a series of test trenches were in place across
the site. The remaining areas of the site were divided up based on the alignment of the test
trenches and anticipated historical features as determined from historical maps. This resulted
in the subdivision of the site into 24 discrete excavation areas (Areas 20-43) which followed
on from the initial 19 test trenches.

Figure 3.1 – Towns Place – Location of the 24 discreet archaeological excavation areas numbered (Not
to scale – for illustrative purposes only). This schematic plan does not
show the 8 metre piling curtilage Excavation Area
Numbers are in Red 20 21 23 22 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 43 37 38 39 40 41 42 Substation Sandstone
building Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 21 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 3.3 Excavation Method
The Excavation Director, in consultation with Walsh Bay Finance and the machinery
operators, determined a sequence of excavation which allowed effective archaeological
excavation of the site. In short, the site was to be excavated from the Dalgety Road
“frontage” in a north east direction towards Towns Place. A 10m curtilage was retained
on the Towns Place and Hickson Road frontages to allow the piling machines access to
the margins of the site where piling is required.

The sequence of excavation followed the following pattern. Works commenced with a
test excavation phase comprising 19 test trenches in late February 2003 which soon
revealed that extensive structural remains of the bond stores and other features were
intact or likely to be intact. This phase concluded on 18 th March. As a result of this the site was notionally divided into 24 discrete areas and larger scale excavation and
monitoring commenced on 20 th March. This phase concluded on 16 th April. An Open Day was held on 12 th April. Works ceased at this point due to some site constraints and the issue of perimeter piling. Piling was required due to the influx of water to the
excavations and the anticipated difficulty for the construction contractors of constructing
piles after the site had been totally excavated to 3.5 m or so at the conclusion of the
archaeological monitoring excavations. This was resolved after discussions with all
parties and the perimeter piling was approved subject to monitoring of the works. These
occurred between 13 th November 2003 and 22 nd January 2004. Bulk monitored excavations then resumed on 28 th January and concluded on 24 th February 2004.
The excavation method was to machine excavate the site in the pre-determined units,
keeping comprehensive notes and a complete archaeological photographic record of
the site. (The photographic logs are included in Appendix 8.3 and the photographs
themselves are on enclosed CDs -Image Disk 01 and 02.) It should be noted that
Austral Archaeology is not responsible for the archival photography of the site nor the
planning of the site, both of which are being completed by Tropman & Tropman
Architects. Austral Archaeology has however, undertaken detailed scale plans of some
archaeological features. It should be noted that Austral Archaeology has not planned
the entirety of the excavated areas, but rather, only those areas which retained
archaeological features.

Several structures were uncovered during the excavations. These include the
foundations (cellar level) of the two bond stores of Robert Towns and a building parallel
to Dalgety Street to the west of the bond stores. Much of the south western part of the
site is constructed directly on bedrock, and in these areas the remaining walls were
stable (although in general these areas are characterised by walls of only a few
courses). Some walls in this area, however, were constructed on fill associated with the
reclamation of the site, and these walls were considered unstable and are presumed to
date later than the bond stores.

Stratigraphically the site is very disturbed, a result which is directly attributable to the
numerous fill events which have occurred. Fill events are discrete stratigraphic units, so
it is easy to see the fill history of the site in profile, however, certain stratigraphic units
contain an artefact assemblage which argues for contamination and disturbance within
areas of the site. During the test trenching, 1950s artefacts were recovered directly on
the cellar floors, above these, as part of the same unit, were 1850s artefacts. Yard
areas are also mixed and it would appear that much of the site has been disturbed.
Areas containing secure deposits were identified in the south eastern room of the three
room structure, finds included transfer wares, glass bottle bases and a hoard of cast
iron spheres thought to be cannonballs. As yet their function has been unable to be
determined. Initial research suggests that they may not be cannon balls as the weights
and sizes do not conform to artillery standards that have been examined to date. If the
cast iron balls are not in fact projectiles, it is likely that they are associated with coal
crushing activities. This area was heavily contaminated and was backfilled as a
requirement of the client’s and Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd’s OH&S policies. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 22 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005
Manual excavation was undertaken in selected areas on site; however, the bulk of
excavation was carried out by machine. This is due to the extensive fill events on site
which have resulted in an (up to) 3.5 m overburden. The large volume of fill
encountered on site, in conjunction with the lack of artefactual integrity encountered
within the fill deposits, negated the need for manual excavations in said units. Manual
excavation was undertaken in uncontaminated areas of the three room structure along
Dalgety Rd. In areas with preserved intact deposits, manual excavation was employed.
This included the area identified as a saw pit and also possibly the location of the
slipway. As stated in the initial progress report, however, the ingress of tidal waters
detrimentally affected the professional excavation of the area and compromised staff
safety. Water control in the northern portion of the site in units below the point of tidal
flux and flooding proved difficult and excavations terminated at that point.

The saw pit and slipway were revealed on the northern side of the bond store structures.
Again this was right in the zone of tidal influx which made investigation difficult.
However, the presence of large logs (that may have been in situ) and sawdust deposits
confirm the preliminary identification of the saw pit site while the slipway simply utilised
the naturally occurring sloping rock shelf. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 23 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 3.4 Stratigraphic Sequence
As stated earlier in this report, the site was sub-divided into a total of 43 (19 tests and 24
monitoring areas) discreet excavation and recording areas. The reason for this was that
excavation of the site was to take place over an extended period of time as the demolition,
site stabilisation and construction activities took place. Therefore, to understand how the site
was formed, it was necessary to rationalise the initial 43 areas into a more manageable 4
areas. The four areas have been determined by comparing the stratigraphic information that
was recorded during the monitoring of each excavation area. Whilst the site was broken into
four distinct areas, principally demarcated by the structural elements present on the site, the
broad stratigraphic sequences are quite similar in all areas.

Figure 3.2 shows the locations of the four areas overlaid on the original 24 excavation areas.

Figure 3.2 –– Plan showing the 24 discreet archaeological excavation areas amalgamated into four
broader stratigraphically related areas (A - D) for discussion purposes. (Not to scale – for illustrative
purposes only). Area D Area C Area B Area A Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 24 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.3 is a general site plan showing details of the main areas and key context numbers.

Figures 3.4 to 3.7 are more detailed plans of Areas A-D respectively. These show the
structural features revealed in the excavations as well as the location of the original 19 test
trenches.

The stratigraphic context catalogue for all areas in included at Appendix 8.1 and 8.2.

3.4.1 Area A

Area A was the second largest of the site areas and was located at the southern end of the
site abutting Hickson Road to the south and Towns Place to the east. This area is roughly
rectangular in shape. Contiguous concrete piles were poured along the Hickson Road and
Towns Place frontages during the works. This area was found to contain the remains of the
nineteenth century masonry seawall, a wharf between the seawall and south bond store
which was partially paved and a number of deep brick lined pits constructed in the later
Maritime Services Board (MSB) phase. The seawall was constructed of well laid sandstone
blocks laid with a batter to retain the fill behind it. It was in a good state of preservation. See
Figure 3.4 below.

Excavation along the seawall proceeded from west to east with the western end having been
the shallow end in its period of use. Once the 1900 -1910 fills had been removed, many
artefacts were retrieved from these “bottom of the harbour” deposits of material that had
either been dumped over the edge of the seawall or washed in from the Harbour proper. The
whale bones were recovered from this area. Excavation of the eastern third of the base of the
seawall was problematic because of the tidal rise and fall which flooded that end of the area
on a regular basis.

3.4.2 Area B

Area B was located in the centre of the site, was rectangular in shape and corresponds with
the footprint of the southern bond store walls. The walls were constructed of large sandstone
blocks with lime mortar bonding. The remnant walls varied in height from approximately 1.5 to
3m. There were six apparent divisions in the structure which can be interpreted as six rooms
or individual spaces. The western end of the building had been partially disturbed by later
MSB service trenches. See Figure 3.5 below.

The structure was built on top of the naturally occurring sandstone shelf at the western end
and on reclaimed ground at the eastern end. Two possible floor surfaces were found in this
building. These were the natural sandstone (which may have had a timber floor built over it)
and a concrete area of floor with a drainage gutter around its edges. It has been surmised
that this was used for meat or fish processing or something that required hosing off or
trapping of fluids. Fill within the building mainly related to the 1900 -1910 redevelopment of
the site with some pockets relating to later MSB activities.

3.4.3 Area C

Area C was located in the centre of the site, was rectangular in shape and corresponds with
the footprint of the northern bond store walls. The walls were constructed of large sandstone
blocks with lime mortar bonding. The remnant walls varied in height from approximately 1.5 to
3m. Within the building were a number of sandstone piers which would have provided support
for the upper floors. Four of these were freestanding while another four were built against the
northern wall. Some other foundations to hold posts had been constructed on the sandstone
rock shelf at the western end of the building. Along the northern basement wall were a
number of window openings with heavy iron bars fitted as well as a large doorway. See
Figure 3.6 below.

There were three apparent divisions in the structure which can be interpreted as rooms or
individual spaces. About half the bond store was built upon the sandstone shelf while the
other half was on reclaimed ground. The northern perimeter wall featured a timber beam Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 25 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 embedded as support for the wall. Fill within the building mainly related to the 1900 -1910
redevelopment of the site with some pockets relating to later MSB activities.

3.4.4 Area D

Area D is the largest of the site areas and is located in the roughly triangular shaped northern
end of the site abutting Towns Place to the east, Dalgety Road to the west and Area B to the
south. This area was heavily disturbed as a result of the placement of a substantial
underground fuel tank during the site’s use as a workshop by the MSB. In addition to the
impact caused by the tank, there was also asbestos material discovered throughout the
northern portion of Area D which precluded the detailed recording of this area for health and
safety reasons. See Figure 3.7 below.

The southern portion of this area is where the original slipway referred to in plans dating from
1839. Interestingly, it is referred to as a “Patent Slip” whereas the physical evidence would
suggest that it was simply a piece of gently shelving rock that boats were winched up onto to
be worked on. There were no indications of substantial structures associated with the slipway,
however a number of timber items associated with boat building and repair were retrieved
(see artefact section of report).

The gross stratigraphic picture throughout this area showed the presence of a crushed coal
and/or sandy layer 100 – 300mm thick, consistent across the area, probably a yard surface
immediately beneath the concrete slabs that were laid during the 1950’s. This material
overlaid a well placed thick band of sandstone fill which was placed as part of the reclamation
works during the nineteenth century. In discrete areas there was also a large amount of
rubble fill including complete and crushed grey bricks which are yet to be positively identified
beyond the likelihood that they arrived at the site as ship’s ballast.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 26 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.3 Insert. General site plan.
(See Report CD for pdf copy)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 27 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.4 Insert. Detailed site plan of Area A.
(See Report CD for pdf copy)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 28 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.5 Insert. Detailed site plan of Area B.
(See Report CD for pdf copy)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 29 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.6 Insert. Detailed site plan of Area C.
(See Report CD for pdf copy)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 30 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Figure 3.7 Insert. Detailed site plan of Area D.
(See Report CD for pdf copy)
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 31 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Fireplace detail in three room structure in Area D. Three room structure during excavation in Area D. View is to the south.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 32 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Detail of remnant northeast wall to three room structure in Area D. Cast iron spheres thought to be cannonballs emerging during excavation near three room structure in Area D. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 33 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 View to the north of southwest (shallow) end of seawall in Area A. Black sediment is top of artefact bearing deposit from which whale bones were recovered. Note stone seawall at left and new concrete pile cap beam at right.

View to north of bulk excavating deep fill deposits with a 12 tonne excavator within the bond stores buildings (Area C). Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 34 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Detail of interior of northern bond store wall in Area C. Detail of exterior of northern bond store wall in Area C. Note the timber beam embedded as support for the wall. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 35 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Detail view of the shallow rock shelf in Area B. Not masonry post supports built on the rock.



View to north of piling machine working along Hickson Road to Towns Place in Area A.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 36 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 View to north of finished piles along Hickson Road frontage in Area A. A pile cap beam was subsequently poured across the top of the protruding pile reinforcing rods.
View to northeast of excavated sea wall, south bond store and part of north bond store. This shows from right to left – Areas A, B, and part of C. Note new concrete piling capping beam in place at extreme right. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 37 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 View to northeast of north bond store in Area C after excavation. Detail view of old pile possibly from early sea wall still in situ. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 38 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Detail of old pile with point tipped with copper. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 39 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 4.0 A RTEFACTS Note. The complete artefact catalogue has been supplied on the Report CD. 4.1 Introduction
The Towns Place assemblage is a large and varied palimpsest of nineteenth century activity
in and around the wharves of Sydney, and has been extracted from an extensive and
stratigraphically complex area. However, as most of this material was recovered as part of a
monitoring exercise and as only baseline analysis has been attempted, this discussion
artificially collapses these individual contexts into a single unit. This then discusses the
materials present in broad terms, rather than on a context by context basis. This is a basic
methodology but is convenient in terms of this discussion because of the obvious
associations many of these deposits share as manifestations of the maritime activities that
took place at Towns Place throughout the nineteenth century.

Apart from the three room house-like structure, the saw pit and slipway areas that were
excavated by hand in Area D, most of the site was dug with mechanical excavators ranging in
size from 3 tons to 20 tons. As such most of these artefacts were recovered by monitors as
the material was extracted or from spoil heaps: as a general rule, only diagnostic pieces were
retained. Most of the recovered assemblage therefore represents a sample of the materials
present.

The assemblage itself consists of 5884 fragments weighing a total of approximately 595
kilograms. A minimum number of individuals of 3342 was calculated for the site, but only in
the most crude way as a part of the cataloguing process, and this should not be seen as
anything but a broad and inaccurate indication of the range and diversity of the material
present. It should also be noted that minimum numbers have also been included for items
other than ceramic, glass and bone, even though this is not an accepted archaeological
practice. Once again it was felt that this may at least help to give a broader overview of the
material present, and what this would have represented in terms of the systemic context.

Overall, a broad and largely typical range of nineteenth century materials are represented
within the assemblage including ceramics, glass, metal, bone, shell, wood, lithics, and leather.
These in turn are symbolic of the full range of human activities including architectural,
domestic, personal, recreational, societal/religious, and miscellaneous activities as well as
those related to tools and equipment. The units and contexts themselves also encompass a
wide variety of activities and functions. These range from discreet artefact scatters associated
with transitory and ephemeral events through to more concentrated deposits representing
longer term accumulations related to the intensive and industrial use of the area over the
better part of the nineteenth century. Deep fill events related to the development of the
Town’s Wharf precinct and the associated land reclamation activities that were undertaken to
facilitate this are also present as are the subsequent demolition and redevelopment deposits
related to the evolution of the Walsh Bay Precinct. This development was associated with the
bubonic plague outbreaks at the turn of the twentieth century and the modernisation of
Sydney’s infrastructure.

The artefact catalogue was created in Excel and is modelled on a database produced for the
Casselden Place Archaeological Excavation, 2002 designed by Christine Williamson. It
includes an Accession Catalogue, Type Series and Mark List. As stated earlier, full analysis
of the artefact assemblage and stratigraphy is beyond the scope of this report. The following
discussion gives a brief overview of the materials present, what appears to be fairly typical at
face value, and some of those items and ideas which perhaps may be worthy of greater
attention during the course of any future research that is be conducted on this site.
Accordingly the integrity of deposits, their relationships and their differing levels of
behavioural significance are not examined in depth here, and the interpretations offered are
based upon impressions gathered during the artefact cataloguing phase: they do not in any
way constitute conclusive or statistically supported observations. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 40 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 4.2 Ceramics
The ceramic component at Towns Place is broadly demonstrative of the comprehensive
nature of this assemblage. It consists of 2028 fragments weighing approximately 103
kilograms and representing a minimum number of 1190 individual vessels.

It includes significant quantities of most late eighteenth and nineteenth century ware types
including stoneware (1700-1930), coarse earthenware, bone china (1794 onwards), porcelain
(1400 onwards), porcellaneous stoneware, celadon (1850-1910), ironstone (1800 onwards),
white granite (1840-1930), refined earthenware, pearlware (1779-1840), whiteware (1779
onwards), yellow ware (1830-1940), brown ware (1127 onwards), red ware (1820-1900),
terracotta, jackfield ware (1740-1800) and various tinted wares (1870 onwards). These in turn
are decorated in a wide variety of ways including shell-edging (1779-1884), blue transfer
prints (1780-1910), colourful transfer-prints(1828-1910), flown transfer-prints (1840-1910),
multi-coloured transfer prints (1840-1910), clobbering (1840-1910), relief moulded and
impressed designs including sprigged decoration (1825-1850), gilt decorated wares (1805
onwards), cut-sponge (1845-1930) and sponge decorated wares (1834-1930), industrial
slipped and slip banded wares (1830-1920), jian you glazed wares (1127 onwards),
Rockingham glazed wares (1780 onwards), Albany slipped wares (1805-1920), Bristol glazed
wares (1835-1920s), salt glazed wares (1700-1930), stencilled wares (1779 onwards), lustre
decorated wares (1790-1930), mocha decorated wares (1790-1910), finger trailed wares
(1830-1900) , hand-painted sprig floral motifs (1830-1860) and enamelled wares (1814-1833).

Transfer printing is by far the dominant decoration type present within the ceramic
assemblage and it is not surprising that of those patterns that have been successfully
identified the great majority are the ubiquitous “Willow” pattern (1790-1910). Also present,
although not as numerous as the “Willow”, is the pale blue “Two Temples” pattern (1810-
1910), as well as “Seaweed” (1780-1910) and its derivative “The Sprig” (1840-1845). Other
patterns identified include “Corrella” (1891-1910), “Sea Lea” (1780-1910) and “Lozere” (1842-
1867).

However, it is a tribute to the popularity and diversity of design of these transfer prints during
the nineteenth century that the great majority of patterns within the assemblage remain
unidentified here. Over the course of the period a broad range of distinctive decorative styles
were employed by potteries to appeal to and capture a share of a rapidly expanding market
fed the nascent mass consumerism that was emerging in the newly industrialised society.
Design types that can be identified within the transfer printed component of the Towns Place
assemblage include Chinese, chinoiserie, geometric, pastoral, linear, vignette, exotic and
floral motifs and patterns.

Not surprisingly the majority of these items appear to be domestic in nature with various
forms of tea and tablewares dominating the assemblage. Whilst this may be surprising as
Towns Place was predominantly a commercial operation at the time these deposits were laid
down, it should be remembered that many people would have been working at the wharves,
as well as coming and going to the ships, all potentially using such items in the course of their
daily activities. There was also a building at the site that may well have been a dwelling, at
least for a part of its history, perhaps for an overseer. Much if not most of this material,
however, may be related to fill episodes associated with Towns’ land reclamation activities
throughout his tenure at the site, and is not, therefore, behaviourally significant.

The Type Series identified 198 distinct types based upon overall form, ware type, decorative
technique and pattern, various other diagnostic elements, and the differing combinations of
these. Most of these were imported from Great Britain with Staffordshire being the primary
source. There are also significant amounts of Chinese ceramic present with at least one local
manufacturer identified. Of the 37 ceramic back marks provenanced, 13 vessels were
manufactured in Staffordshire potteries, seven were produced in Glasgow, six in London and
its surrounds, six in Sydney, three in Derbyshire, and two in Bristol. This clearly demonstrates
the dominance of the British ceramics industry and particularly the Staffordshire potteries in
the context of colonial Sydney. The growth of Sydney and the British Empire throughout the Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 41 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 nineteenth century was wholly dependent upon a reliable and efficient flow of manufactured
goods moving along well-established trade routes that lead directly from the economic core of
the British industrial base to the economic semi-periphery within which Sydney was firmly
embedded (Jeans 1988: 59-61). This is especially significant in terms of this site when one
considers the function of Towns Wharf as a conduit for goods into and out of Sydney during
this formative time in its development. Furthermore, even though Towns himself is only
thought to have been trading throughout the Pacific region, the possibility that this wharf or
those around it may have been involved in the importation and dissemination of mass-
produced consumer goods (such as these ceramics) from the economic and industrial core of
Great Britain, is a potential area of interest in terms of future research agendas.

Chinese imports represent a visible and significant departure from this model insofar as they
are indicative of a diversification of population and economy that was taking place as Sydney
matured and became more complex. Chinese items are represented within the assemblage
by 29 individual vessels. These are dominated by 21 porcellaneous stoneware containers
consisting predominantly of utilitarian hollowware items such as bowls, rice bowls, and ginger
jars and their lids. Other Chinese ceramic artefacts included ones of porcelain, celadon,
stoneware, brown ware, and coarse earthenware, as well as those decorated with jian you
glaze, all in a variety of forms. Whether or not these items represent the presence of Chinese
individuals living or working at the site or simply reflect the trade and growth in the availability
of such goods may form a focus of any further research. Attracted predominantly by the gold
rushes of the mid to late nineteenth century, Chinese immigrants represented a cultural and
material tradition that was very different from that of their European counterparts. As such the
presence of Chinese artefacts within the archaeological record at Towns Place is
demonstrative perhaps of not only Town’s trading activities in China, but also of a nascent
ethnic diversity evolving in a society that had hitherto been dominated by a northern
European cultural tradition.

Two unusual artefacts look to be Indian or possibly Chinese in origin. These were small, pink
clay figurines, crudely hand-painted and glazed on the front face (TP764, TP3028). They
depict a cross-legged individual, possibly nursing a baby, whose garb is rather reminiscent of
a Hindu or a Buddhist. Beyond this little has been ascertained about these items, but they are
suggestive of the commercial interest that Town’s had in these areas. This interest stretched
well beyond the more traditional colonial trade routes extending northwards to China and
westwards to India.

Intrinsic to the aforementioned core-periphery relationship that Sydney shared with Great
Britain was the eventual development of local industries and products. Within the ceramic
assemblage these are represented by six stoneware ginger beer bottles decorated with a
variety of industrial slips, salt glazes, and Bristol glazes. Five of these were manufactured by
Thomas Field (TP311, TP1790, TP1937, TP3366, TP3426), a prominent Sydney potter who
operated out of his George Street premises between 1847 and 1871 (Fahy 1971: 16. Casey
1999: 8) . The other dates to between 1892 and the 1920s (TP 3369) and features the familiar horse logo of the brewer Tooths & Co. Ltd. However, the fact that local production is
represented by only the relatively limited technology of these six individual vessels once
again emphasises the dependent nature of colonial Australia on the industrial machine of
Great Britain and the trade networks of which wharves such as those at Towns Place were so
clearly an integral part.

One interesting aspect of the ceramic component at Towns Place is the total absence of
decalcomania decorated wares. This type of decoration was introduced in approximately
1850 and is still the dominant method used to print ceramic tea and tablewares today, having
almost totally superseded transfer printing towards the end of the nineteenth-century.
However, its total absence from the Towns Place inventory more than likely reflects a
relatively slow rate of market penetration that saw it only gradually gain in popularity over its
first few decades of availability. Whilst this may also be a product of the recovery techniques
employed at this site, it at least suggests the likelihood that the archaeological inventory at
Towns Place including fill-related episodes, was completely laid down before the growth in
popularity of this class of artefact.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 42 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 The presence of a relatively large pearlware component within the ceramic assemblage, on
the other hand, is demonstrative of the early character of much of the archaeological
inventory. This is also perhaps evidence of the effects of the time lag phenomena which
relates to the lifespan of an artefact and how long it may be expected to linger within the
systemic context (Adams 2003: 38, 42). This will vary according to a wide range of cultural
factors including wealth, frugality, core versus periphery delay, and modes of usage. For
ceramic items this time lag is likely to last at least a decade and may well stretch to an
average of 20 plus years (Adams 2003: 38; Klose and Malan 2000b: 12; Majewski and
O’Brien 1987: 170). As pearlware production ceased around 1840 the deposits within which
these artefacts were found may well relate to the earliest phase of building and activity at the
site undertaken by Jones in the period between 1830 and 1844 before Towns purchased the
site. However, it is also probably demonstrative of time lag as one would expect pearlware to
have remained a significant part of the systemic inventory of the site until at least the 1860s, a
period including the most intensive activity in terms of the archaeology at the site. It may also
however, be that some of this material represents introduced fill associated with land
reclamations undertaken by Towns throughout his tenure at the site.

One final component of the ceramic assemblage worthy of discussion is the clay tobacco
pipes. Towns Place produced a large, varied and interesting assemblage of such artefacts
and they have been considered in isolation in Section 4.4.

In short, the scope of ceramic material present conforms neatly with the colourful nineteenth-
century British colonial pattern identified consistently in assemblages from the former British
colonies including New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Australia. This pattern saw
consumer choices in these eighteenth and nineteenth-century colonies dominated by a
preference for colourful, ornately decorated wares which contrasted markedly with the
austere and conservative consumer choices demonstrated by Anglo-Americans, as
expressed through their choice of a largely plain and undecorated ceramic inventory during
the same period. The deeper colonial past of the North Americans and their resultant longer
period of separation from Europe, in combination with a unique religious background, had
resulted in their evolution of a differing world-view to that of their more modern, consumer
driven counterparts arriving in the Australian colonies during this period. This is clearly and
repeatedly expressed in the archaeological record (Lawrence 2003: 26).
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 43 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Detail of transfer print on a whiteware sherd (TP47) from a small plate or saucer decorated with “Spaniard” pattern. The maker could not be identified. It is dated 1828 to 1910.
Transfer printed makers mark on the underside of a whiteware sherd (TP47) from a small plate or saucer decorated with “Spaniard” pattern. The maker is unknown. It is dated 1828 to 1910. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 44 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A ceramic (whiteware) pot lid transfer printed in black (TP236). It was probably manufactured between 1840 and 1910. A typical example of a locally produced ginger beer bottle. It is poorly formed and features an
impressed maker’s mark, identifying that it was manufactured by Thomas Field, a local potter who operated out of George Street between1847 to 1871. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 45 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 Some typical examples of salt-glazed stoneware ink bottles. These were manufactured from the 1700s until approximately 1930. A blue, transfer printed whiteware lid, probably from a teapot (TP1523). It can be dated no more accurately than between 1780 and 1910. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 46 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 An unidentified clay figurine (TP764). It is glazed and hand-painted, and may be of Indian or Chinese origin.
A typical example of a transfer printed sherd from a small plate or saucer featuring an “exotic view” or scene. Such decoration was popular between 1793 and 1868.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 47 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A Bristol glazed stoneware ginger beer bottle (TP3369) from Tooth & Co. featuring a partially intact crown-cork seal. It was manufactured between 1892 and the 1920s. A typical stoneware blacking bottle. Blacking was used for the polishing of leather items such as saddles and shoes. It was probably manufactured between 1840 and 1930. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 48 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A typical example of a salt-glazed stoneware ink bottle. These were manufactured from the 1700s until approximately 1930. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 49 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 4.3 Glass
The glass component of the Towns Place assemblage is slightly smaller than the ceramic one.
It consists of 1444 fragments weighing approximately 139 kilograms and represents a
minimum number of 896 individual vessels.

Like the ceramics it is a varied assemblage, typically nineteenth century in character, and
includes bottles manufactured using virtually the full range of late eighteenth and nineteenth
century manufacturing technologies. These include dip moulds (1700s-1870), two-piece
moulds (1750-1920), two-piece moulds with separate bases (1820-1920), Ricketts’ type
moulds (1821-1923), later Ricketts’ type moulds (1845-1923), turn-paste moulds (1870-1920)
and three-piece moulds (1820-1920), as well as the later machine-made vessels (1890
onwards). The Type Series identified 198 distinct types based upon the overall form of bottles
and other vessel types, their bases, pontil marks, finish types and various other diagnostic
elements, as well as combinations of these.

Of those bottles whose provenance has been determined, two were manufactured in France,
two in England, six in Scotland, and one in Melbourne. The only locally-made bottles
identified were machine-made in the twentieth century. Whilst it is not surprising that many of
these and other glass products were imported as Sydney existed in a semi-peripheral
relationship to the British core in a global sense, it is fair to hypothesise that a far higher
percentage of the glass would have been locally produced as opposed to the ceramic
component of the assemblage. Investigation of this and other questions may prove fruitful in
the future.

The bottles are mainly domestic in nature and beverage related. The assemblage is
dominated by ordinary dark olive green beer/wine bottles, dip moulded champagne-type
bottles and dip moulded case gin bottles. Aerated or carbonated water bottles are also well
represented mostly in the form of torpedo (1814-1907) and flat-bottomed torpedo bottles
(1870-1919). Whilst beverage-related bottles typically dominate nineteenth century
assemblages, there were also a multitude of containers associated with a whole range of
substances such as medicines, chemicals, inks and foods. Of the latter, pickle and salad oil
bottles were particularly prevalent, whilst castor oil and milk bottles were also present, as
were a large number of bottles that, due to a high degree of fragmentation, could not be
classified by type or otherwise.

It should be noted that bottle-type assignation is often both generic and subjective and in any
case the relationship between style and function is not always a clear or simple one.
Designations such as beer/wine bottle, champagne bottle and medicine bottle are convenient
and widely understood and therefore are retained for the purposes of classification although it
is equally well understood that the actual function of these containers is potentially far more
diverse than this label might suggest. As such, it is often much more useful to discuss glass in
terms of the various manufacturing techniques (as identified by mould seams) mentioned
earlier, and the various diagnostic features of bottles such as finishes, push-ups and pontil
marks that are identified on glass fragments, as these are certainly far more reliable in terms
of the dating of artefacts and therefore also the assemblages and contexts to which they
belong.

Indeed, the bottle push-ups or kick-ups and the pontil marks they house display an
impressive diversity across the assemblage, and as such are particularly important for dating
purposes. The pontil was a tool briefly fitted to the base of the hot, freshly moulded bottle and
used to move and hold it in position whilst the finish was shaped and/or applied. This was
usually a rod of some kind fitted with various types of tips, or holding surfaces, each of which
leaves a distinctive mark or scar, and all of which have a temporal aspect when they were
employed in the manufacturing process. Practically the full range of pontil scars are present,
including those made by bare-iron or metal rod pontils (1845-1870), glass-tipped (plain or
open) pontils (1700s-1850), and unidentified pontils (before 1870).

The most frequently observed pontil mark was the sand pontil (1750-1870), whilst one of the
more unusual types of mark observed were those that included the glass moyle indicative of Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 50 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 the blow-pipe or ring pontil (1700s-1860). This pontil is generally associated with bottles of
European origin and was not commonly used in England after about 1720 (Boow 1991: 35),
thus suggesting a slightly more exotic provenience for at least some of the bottles at Towns
Place. Whilst it is possible that the availability of such bottles is associated with the site’s
location amongst the wharves, it should be remembered that these bottles may well be
derived from the imported fill that Towns was using to extend his landing areas. There is little
evidence to suggest that Towns was conducting trade with continental Europe, although it is
not impossible given that he came to the local industry via a trading background that involved
early voyages from England to the South Seas. Another possibility is that Towns may well
have traded with French ships active in the Pacific throughout this period. Whether such ships
may have called at Towns’ wharf, or been refitted by his ships elsewhere is speculation, but
the presence of large numbers of cannon balls (see Section 4.6) of an unusual bore-size
makes this a possibility, and these bottles were somehow connected to this activity.

Connected to, and responsible for, the demise of the various empontilling techniques with
their unsightly scarring of bottle bases, was the introduction of various types of holding tools.
These gradually superseded the use of pontils between approximately 1830 and 1870 and
also often left a distinctive mark on the base of the bottle, meaning that they are useful for
dating these artefacts. This assemblage includes a considerable number of dip moulded case
gin bottles that feature marks indicative of the use of the so-called Sabot holding tool,
meaning that they were manufactured between approximately 1830 and 1870, a period
during which Towns Place was probably at its busiest.

Apart from pontil marks, bottle bases often include tell-tale marks that indicate the use of
various different types of push-up tools in their manufacture. These tools were widely used
between 1820 and 1870 and are almost exclusively found on dark olive green beer/wine type
bottles. They are well represented within the assemblage and include push-ups formed with a
wooden cone push-up tool, a three part push-up tool and an unidentified shaped push-up tool
(one of which actually occurs in conjunction with mould seams attributable to a Ricketts’ type
mould). However, the dominant bottle type found within the assemblage is a dark green
beer/wine bottle with a push-up formed by a metal-capped wooden cone push-up tool. Again,
this is significant as this was probably the period during which the site saw its greatest activity,
especially in terms of the formation of archaeological deposits.

Similarly important to bottle bases for the purposes of identification and date range
assignation are the wide variety of bottle finishes that occur within the glass assemblage.
Most of these were tooled or applied, or involved a combination of the two processes. These
“formed” collars, as they are collectively known, were made possible by the invention of
various types of finishing tool and were gradually introduced to the market from about 1830.
This improved type of finish eventually achieved market dominance by approximately 1850.
At Towns Place these formed collars make up the greater part of the assemblage with double
collar finished bottles significantly outnumbering those that feature single collars. Of the
double collars, the most numerous are beer/wine bottles featuring a down-tooled lip and
down-tooled string rim, whilst those with deep flat lips and down-tooled string rims, and
rounded lips and down-tooled string rims, are also relatively common. Formed single collar
finishes are also well represented by bottles featuring down-tooled lips and champagne type
bottles with ring seal type finishes. This latter type of finish was introduced in 1850,
suggesting that its presence here may, depending upon the nature of the contexts from which
they were extracted, indicate that Towns was still busily filling and reclaiming land after this
time. Alternatively, the presence of such bottle types may indicate the presence of alcohol
consumption at Towns Place, either shipboard or on the wharf itself. This is not unexpected,
as the consumption of grog was an accepted activity of nineteenth century labourers at work,
but is perhaps suggestive of the day to day activities of those that were active here during
Towns’ heyday.

The same conclusions can be drawn in regards to the presence of large numbers of
beer/wine type bottles featuring the remnants of lead foil seals around their finishes. With the
introduction of finishing tools the utilization of such lead foil seals became practicable and
they were eventually introduced in large numbers after about 1843. Thus, whilst this is early
enough for such bottles to have found their way into Towns’ reclamation fill deposits, provided Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 51 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 such work was continuing later into the decade, they may also be indicative of a healthy
drinking culture amongst workers at the site including perhaps, sailors.

Three turn-paste moulded bottles, on the other hand, appear more likely to be behaviourally
related as they were extracted during hand excavation from within the small three room
house-like structure in Area 22 (in Area D). Turn-paste moulding was introduced in
approximately 1870 indicating that deposits were still being laid down at the time of Town’s
death. Two of these bottles also feature pontil marks indicating that they cannot have been
manufactured long after 1870 by which time empontilling had supposedly been phased out.
Even allowing for time lag, this is again suggestive of activity within this structure at this time.
Three other turn-paste moulded bottles derive from less certain contexts, although from what
is known of the site’s history in terms of the temporal span of land reclamation activities, it
seems highly unlikely that these are related to such events.

Time lag is again a significant factor in assessing this component of the overall Towns Place
assemblage. Nineteenth century bottles are generally expected to show a considerable time
lag although quantification of this can be problematic. Bottles were often cellared and/or
refilled repeatedly as they were considered a more valuable commodity then. As such Adams
predicts an expected time lag of at least 5 years, perhaps considerably longer for glass
bottles (Adams 2003: 42-3, 58-9). This delay is shorter than for ceramics because bottles
were still considered disposable and were far more fragile. This is important in terms of this
assemblage as there are large numbers of bottles that can be dated relatively accurately to
the middle part of the nineteenth century (i.e. those that feature formed collars, lead foil seals,
shaped push-up tool formed bases, sabot marks, ring seals etc.) that could be associated
with the land reclamation activities undertaken by Towns’ after he purchased the site in 1844.
When or for how long these activities took place is unknown but if these contexts are to be
dated accurately and they contain, for instance, large numbers of dip moulded champagne
type bottles with ring seal (1850-1870), then this means that land reclamation was probably
taking place at least after 1855. This was well after Towns’ arrival and towards the time when
his mercantile interests were clearly shifting away from the wharf complex. Accurate dating of
these deposits through the compilation of mean date ranges for their artefactual contents,
whilst taking account of the time lag phenomenon, would therefore be a priority if any detailed
assemblage analysis was undertaken.

One final type of bottle recovered from deposits at Towns Place worthy of mention are those
that were machine-made. These bottles are represented by two ink bottles and four milk
bottles, two of which feature foil-top finishes and were manufactured between 1940 and 1947.
One of these is from a fill deposit whilst two are from a cellar and are therefore probably from
fill also. This is interesting in terms of the life-history of the site in the early to mid-twentieth
century. The site history indicates that development at this time was rather piecemeal and
very little if any building activity occurred on the site after the late 1830s and early 1840s. This
component of the assemblage seems to confirm this suggesting that at least some of the fill
episodes occurred post-1840, presumably to facilitate the construction of the last of these
buildings.

Other glass artefacts recovered include tumblers (one featuring a ground pontil, a feature that
is far less reliable in terms of dating tablewares as opposed to bottles), stemmed drinking
glasses, window glass, glass stoppers including a flat oblong head stopper (1700 onwards), a
jar stopper (1863-1870) and the more typical club sauce stoppers (1700 onwards), two
eyeglass lens’, a variety of glass beads, and an assortment of handmade marbles including a
josephs’ coat swirl and a transparent swirl (1846-1914). One of these latter artefacts was
recovered from underfloor deposits in the house-like structure that was hand excavated in
Area 22 (in Area D) suggesting perhaps that this was a dwelling (hosuing children) for at least
part of its life-history.
Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 52 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A typical salad oil type bottle recovered during excavations at Towns Place. A typical example of a square-sided pickle bottle (TP152) recovered during excavations at Towns Place. It features an applied, untooled cap seat finish and was manufactured in a two- piece mould with a separate base part. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 53 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A torpedo bottle (TP289) – typically used for mineral water or soft drinks. It was formed in a two-piece mould. These were manufactured between 1814 and 1920. A machine-made “Swan Ink” bottle (TP1691). It was manufactured sometime after 1890. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 54 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A wide- mouthed or jar-type stopper (TP1663) featuring a glass tipped (plain or open) pontil mark. It was manufactured between 1863 and 1870. A typical dip moulded champagne type bottle featuring a tooled and applied ring or
champagne seal single-collar finish. It was manufactured between 1850 and 1870. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 55 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048 2005 A typical beer/wine type bottle (TP1821) featuring a tooled deep flat lip and flattened string rim with the remnants of a lead foil seal. It also features a conical basal profile formed with a metal-capped wooden cone push-up tool. It was manufactured in a three-piece mould, between 1843 and 1870. A hand-made glass marble (TP1087). Known as a transparent swirl, it features internal twists of red and green glass. It was manufactured between 1846 and 1914. Towns Place Archaeological Monitoring Project 56 Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd 92 Percival Road Stanmore 2048